Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
Seeking Advancement of Knowledge through Spiritual and Intellectual Growth

International ConferenceAbout IRFIIRFI CommitteesRamadan CalendarQur'anic InspirationsWith Your Help

Articles 1 - 1000 | Articles 1001-2000 | Articles 2001 - 3000 | Articles 3001 - 4000 | Articles 4001 - 5000 | Articles 5001 - 6000 |  All Articles

Family and Children | Hadith | Health | Hijab | Islam and Christianity | Islam and Medicine | Islamic Personalities | Other | Personal Growth | Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) | Qur'an | Ramadan | Science | Social Issues | Women in Islam |

Home
Islamic Articles
Islamic Links
Islamic Cemetery
Islamic Books
Women in Islam
Feedback
Aalim Newsletter
Date Conversion
Prayer Schedule
Scholarships
Q & A
Contact Info
Disclaimer
 

 

No "business as usual" with the butcher of Gujarat


18 September 08


Narendra Modi
to address Toronto gala
Harper government ends Liberal blacklist – opens trade office in Gujarat

Gala event in Toronto
We are deeply troubled that the Canadian Friends of Gujarat supported by the Canada India Foundation have organized a gala event with their guest speaker, Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat , India , at the Pearson Convention Centre, Brampton , Ontario on 19th September at 7pm.

Gujarat Genocide 2002
Mr.Modi and his minister and government have been indicted by reputable Indian and international human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, National Human Rights Commission [of India] all extensively documented and easy to access—e.g. Human Rights Watch,  We Have No Orders to Save You-- for their sponsorship of and complicity in the "ethnic cleansing" and "massacres" of Muslims in Gujarat during February - March 2002.  Thousands of people were killed and made refugees, hundreds of women and young girls were brutally raped and tortured before being killed, and religious places of worship were defiled and destroyed.  In addition, Mr.Modi's government  targeted Muslims, Christians and secular Hindus before and after the 2002 Gujarat genocide.

By honoring Mr. Modi at their Brampton event on 19th September 2008,  the Canadian Friends of Gujarat and the Canada India Foundation dishonor the victims of the Gujarat genocide, and insult the moral dignity of all. Furthermore, honouring him raises questions about their commitment to secularism and pluralism.

Aftermath of Genocide
Mr. Modi's government has systematically prevented victims and survivors of the genocide from attaining redress from the state judiciary.  Mr. Modi's tenure has had a chilling effect on the Christian and Muslim communities of Gujarat . Under his leadership, more than 2,000 of 4,000 cases filed by the victims of the violence were never investigated or dismissed, leading the Supreme Court of India to rebuke both the Gujarat judiciary and the Government of Gujarat for its handling of the cases, and transferring several cases out of the state for trial.

Links to Hindu fascism & fundamentalism
Mr. Modi is a long-standing member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organization modelled after and inspired by European fascist organizations.  He is in close alliance with and promotes the extreme right-wing Hindutva movement that is supremacist and anti-minority and whose members were responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. This movement was modelled of Mussolini's Fascist Party in the 1920s and has been glorifying Hitler since the 1930s. It is an ultra-nationalist Hindu fundamentalist organization.

International conventions flouted
Mr. Modi is in violation of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and other international laws, and there are currently two civil suits filed against him for crimes against humanity and genocide.  Mr. Modi's involvement in these massacres and activities violates Canada 's stated position on  "Crimes Against Humanity"..
 
US State Department Revoked Visa for Modi
In 2005 the United States Department of State revoked Mr. Modi's tourist visa under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits foreign government officials who are "responsible for or [have] directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom" from obtaining U.S. visas. When Mr. Modi was invited to attend a cultural event organized by the Gujarat community in New Jersey in August this year, the same conditions applied. 

For this reason Mr. Modi will be addressing the gala event via video conferencing. The centre stage position he will occupy is deeply troubling and we believe that it is an attempt to whitewash his role in the Gujarat genocide.

Canada Trades with Gujarat – Harper about face
In addition for us as Canadians as we are about to elect a new government it is most distressing that the government of Stephen Harper recently (August '08) opened a trade office in Gujarat . The former liberal government had put Gujarat state on an implicit blacklist because of the genocide of 2002.  Canada has recognized that human rights and trade and commercial activities cannot be seen in isolation.  We need to remember that while millions were be killed by the Nazis, IBM was providing the punchcards and data entry machines to streamline the process. We should not let "business as usual" trump human rights.

Info: Dolores Chew, South Asian Women's Community Centre ("Justice for the Victims of the Gujarat Genocide Campaign") 514-485-9192 (home); 514-931-8792 x 381 (work)  dolchew@hotmail.com

--
www.montrealmuslimnews.net

Please report any broken links to Webmaster
Copyright © 1988-2012 irfi.org. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer
   

free web tracker